Do you suffer from chronic back pain? Do you have difficulties managing your pain? 
Do you feel like you are older than you actually are? Chances are that you could be suffering from vertebral subluxations
What are Vertebral Subluxations?
Vertebral subluxations occur when one or more vertebrae in the spine moves out of place, creating pressure and irritation on the spinal nerves. This can interfere with the normal function and signal transfer over those nerves. If the nerve signal can’t get through, then parts of your body won’t get the message and won’t function properly.
There are 5 components to subluxations; this is known as the Vertebral Subluxation Complex:
1. Kinesiopathology: This involves a vertebra that has lost its normal position and motion in relation to surrounding vertebrae. In other words, your vertebrae are either less or more mobile than usual. This can make it uncomfortable to turn, twist or bend your neck, back, or hips.
2. Myopathology: This occurs when pathological changes in the spinal musculature cause symptoms such as hypertonicity, spasms, fibrosis, and weakness and improper or inappropriate functioning. Your muscles can be left in a constant state of weakness, tightness, and spasms, or feel overly sensitive and/or sore.
3. Neuropathology: This condition exists when your spinal nerve roots have been irritated or injured through compression, stretching, or more commonly, chemical irritation caused by nearby spinal structures. Impulses traveling through your nerves may be altered, and needed chemicals flowing through your nerves may be blocked. This may cause pain, numbness, and/or a pins-and-needles feeling.
4. Histopathology: This occurs when spinal tissues undergo pathological changes such as abnormal bony growths, fibrosis, and adhesions of the spinal muscles and ligaments as well as spinal disc degeneration. It can manifest in the form of swelling, tenderness, “trigger points,” and painful spots. Histopathology can affect your ligaments, cartilage, tendons, and internal organs.
5. Pathophysiology: This condition occurs when inflammatory biochemicals from injured tissues and waste products create changes in the spinal region. Your muscles, joints, ligaments, and organs begin to show signs of wear and tear and premature aging, and you can be left feeling tired and more susceptible to disease.
What causes Vertebral Subluxations?
Simply put, stress causes vertebral subluxations. It can come in two forms, micro-stress and macro-stress, and can be either physical or emotionally based. Micro-stress includes those things that cause gradual wear and tear from repeated movements, bad posture, and emotional stress, which can lead to chronic tension. Macro-stress is major physical trauma from accidents, falls, sports injuries, and the like.
There can also be chemical causes due to unhealthy foods, drug and alcohol use, and chemical toxins ingested through foods and water or inhaled through the air that we breathe. Harmful chemicals can reduce the body’s ability to function properly and successfully fight off diseases.
What are some symptoms of Vertebral Subluxations?
Symptoms can include: pain, tenderness, soreness and stiffness in the neck or back; headaches; dizziness; pain, numbness or tingling in the extremities; joint pain or stiffness; and lack of energy, just to name a few. Just because you aren’t feeling any symptoms, however, doesn’t mean that you don’t have a problem. By the time you start feeling symptoms, a lot of damage has most likely already occurred.
If you are feeling any of the above symptoms or suspect you might be suffering from subluxations, it is important to see your local back doctor for a checkup. Chiropractors are specially trained to detect, locate and correct subluxations. The sooner it is detected, the easier it will be to correct the problem.
Featured images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
- License: Creative Commons image source
Carrie Thompson works for Core Care Back Institute, http://www.corecarebackinstitute.com, providing chiropractic, pain management, and physical medicine in Roanoke and Danville, Virginia.
